Zen Productivity Principles to Regain Balance and Simplicity
We live in a society built on efficiency and productivity. We stay busy, invent new time management strategies, and learn how to fill every second with some kind of activity so that we can “save” more time and fill it up with even more activities. But the question is – What’s the point?
What is the point of working hard and checking off all these numerous tasks on our to-do lists when we misbalance other areas of our life like health or relationships, for one single idea – the idea that we must be efficient. Efficient at what? Work? Relationships? Life?
My friend recently came back from his family trip to Europe. And when I asked him how did it go, his first response was, “Oh it was very productive! We saw everything that we had planned to see and I even met possible business partners for my new project!”
Am I the only one, who does not understand the concept of a “productive vacation”? Vacations can be unforgettable, fun, great, amazing or terrible at worst, but not productive. Because if this is the case, a vacation loses its essence and becomes a business trip.
This got me thinking that maybe we have taken the productivity concept too far after all?
Maybe we need to take a little break from all the new fad time management strategies and turn to ancient knowledge for guidance?
Here is what ancient wisdom teaches us:
1. “What you are doing does not matter so much as what you are learning from doing it.” - Egyptian Proverb
Most of us are familiar with the concept of prioritizing – you should always start with the most important and urgent task on our to-do list, leaving less important ones for later. But what if we look at it from a different perspective and instead of concentrating our efforts on the tasks that are supposed to bring us maximum result in the short run; we make learning our priority?
When you evaluate any activity from “What can I learn?” perspective, you are continuously expanding your experience, improving your skills, as a result becoming more efficient.
Action step: Look at the tasks on your to-do list. Often the most beneficial activity is not the one that seems the most important or urgent. It is the one that you learn the most while doing it!
2. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle
Our present is a direct result of choices and actions that we have made in the past. And most of those choices and actions are mainly influenced by our habits. It is no different with work. Each of us has developed our own rituals like checking emails, answering friends on facebook, looking for the latest updates on the soccer world cup or eating lunch at our desk.
What we do not realize is that we perfect what we repeatedly do. We become more efficient at answering emails, we learn to carry on conversations with 5 different friends on facebook, and we become much faster at searching for the latest news on-line.
Action step: Become aware of your work “rituals” during the day. What do you repeatedly do? What are you getting better at? And is it worth excelling at these tasks? Or maybe it would be better to invest your time in something else that has a greater impact on your career and professionalism?
3. “Knowledge is learning something new every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day.” – Zen proverb
We live in the age of information. Every question that you may have, every new challenge that you might need to face has already been answered or solved by someone else. And all this information is assessable to us at the push of a button.
Unfortunately, the same technological innovations that were supposed to make our work more efficient actually diminish our productivity. Think of all the hundreds of thousands of daily postings competing for your attention: emails marked “urgent”, voice mails, facebook updates, twitter messages, newsletters and RSS feeds! No wonder most of us feel overwhelmed, tired, confused, and stressed out by the sheer volume of the information we receive every day.
Action step: To get your life back, adopt the Zen attitude – learn to let go of unneeded information.
• Unsubscribe from all the RSS feeds that provide very little useful information.
• Reduce internet browsing time. Literally disconnect your computer from the internet for at least an hour, while you work.
• Set time limitations on phone calls, meeting and appointments. It is unbelievable how many precious home hours we lose to managerial meanderings, unnecessary phone calls and company-bought pizza.
Block out the noise and give yourself a few hours of uninterrupted peace and quiet whenever you have to make important decisions or get something done!
4. “Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy. “ – Lao Tzu
Do not wait till the last possible moment to get important tasks done. In my experience the task never takes as little time as we initially estimated it would take. Usually at the worst possible moment, the internet connection disappears, the printer breaks down, suppliers do not respond to your emails on time, or your boss comes up with another one of his “brilliant” ideas that you immediately have to start working on. Bottom line – you end up beating yourself up for not doing everything earlier.
Action step: If you want to make the best out of your time, become a short-time pessimist and a long-time optimist. Expect that things will go wrong. Because they will. I guarantee you that. But approach every problem in a constructive way, knowing that everything will work out in the end.
5. “No great thing is created suddenly.” —Epictetus (A.D.200)
This advice is probably the hardest one to master (at least for me it is). We live in a McDonald culture and we expect instant results for our actions (preferably, with the minimum effort on our part). I have noticed that I get very frustrated when I invest a lot of energy in a certain task and in the beginning, make very little progress. And it does not help when those around me appear to be getting better results sooner.
But the harsh truth is that there are no quick fixes, magic bullets or secrets for any worth-while goals. Brilliantly executed projects, million-dollar ideas, and noticeable achievements require thought, time, energy, and often sacrifices. Greatness is not built overnight. It takes time.
Therefore, do not sacrifice quality to speed and do not be afraid of improving slowly. Be afraid of standing still!
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Tags: how to be productive, increase productivity, productivity, simple productivity, Time Management, zen productivity principles
